Day 2: Thursday 2nd September

Up, Up and Away!

We were awake in good time and hub and I went about our business quietly, while Paul rabbitted away as jolly as can be (drugged). It was strange not to have a car (ours had been taken away in the night by a stranger) - but we ordered a taxi to take us to Terminal 4 for 9:30am. We stood outside with our bags to wait for him. Along came an unmarked car and bade us get in. I can't say that I liked the look of the bloke and he seemed very unsure of himself (and sweated), but we loaded the back of the car with our luggage and were just about to climb in ourselves, when two blokes from the hotel came out waving their hands. Seems like my suspicions were founded, as this person was an interloper - an opportunist - a taxi that the hotel had not laid eyes on before. Quickly our bags were unloaded and the 'taxi' drove away at speed, doors still wide open. Wonder if he would've kidnapped up? Or perhaps just driven off with our luggage? Or maybe he would've saved us and simply charged us an arm and a leg? Anyway, we were very grateful to the hotel staff (and felt foolish about our gullibility) and one of the hotel blokes himself drove us to the terminal.

Yeek, what delights awaited us at the airport! Especially at the British Airways desk! There was a queue a mile long, snaking in and out of endless cordons, for check-in to BA Flight 289!! Fortunately, we were invited to use the quick check-in, so we did and we only had to queue for a shorter snake to get our luggage checked in! Then we went to the departure place and had to put all metal from pockets and goodness knows what else, into little trays. Everything went through a machine, while we walked through a kind of doorway, which checked us out as regards metals and stuff. Seemed they didn't like something about me, because I was hauled over to the side and was frisked (by a woman)!! She even looked at the bottom of my shoes - but I was allowed to continue! I didn't mind this performance - after all, the security checks were for everybody's benefit.

We hastened to the Holideck (a 3-mile hike), grabbed ourselves a drink and some snacks (freebies), and settled down in one of the little smoking rooms. With a view over the runways. And all the huge planes. I was having a long, ardent affair with the Bach Rescue Remedy bottle. Not long after, a young American man joined us. He was very chatty and was actually on his way to Iraq!! I'm not sure in what capacity - not military - but, whatever, he seemed to consider it his duty and admitted to being a Bush-man. He said that, whereas the Democrats cared mainly for domestic issues - the Republicans cared more for international issues. Hmm. Not a lot of politics was discussed, however, but we talked about airplanes and cigarettes. He was very pleasant and I hope that he is safe, and remains safe, in Iraq. BUT, our time in the Holideck was seemingly short indeed, because our plane was BOARDING and we rushed off to the gate, where there was a huge queue. We sent Paul off to buy some boiled sweets to suck on take-off and he was gone for ages and we feared we'd miss the flight. However, we boarded on time.

It was awfully squashed. Hub sat by the window (very brave), Paul by the aisle, with me in between. I think we must've sucked a dozen sweets before take-off, more to do with sheer fear than with eustachian tube poppings!! And we had to wait for that dreaded take-off, and line up behind about a dozen other planes on that runway.

But, eventually, we were away!

It wasn't as bad as I had feared - but bad enough. How on Earth that great big bird got off the ground, will never understand! But soon we were soaring above the clouds, flying over the Midlands, Liverpool and the NW of Scotland. We even skirted Iceland! We could follow the route on the map provided on the screens in front of us - and I must admit to studying that for the majority of the flight.

They brought around a meal. It wasn't too marvellous - in fact, I forget what it was. Beef and pasta or something. And there was a dessert with squishy strawberries, I think. But who could eat??

We flew over Greenland. It was the most amazing thing - and the views were absolutely tremendous - worth the ticket money for those alone. Then we were flying over the Canadian ice-flows and over Hudson Bay. It was all so very exciting! Amazing! Gob-smacking!

We hit the United States, flying over Minneapolis, just right of Lake Superior (though couldn't spot that lake). Just south of Duluth, Paul (now sitting in the window seat) had 'had it' (drugs had worn off) and he decided to try to sleep. 2 hours from our destination! Meantime, hub was wrapped in a blanket, claiming it was cold - but it was BOILING, I thought! The plane banked and we looked down over patchwork fields in the region of Sioux Falls and I thought I saw a tractor, but must've surely been mistaken! Ah, but all this excitement over flying over the US was all very well - but we hadn't had anything to eat for HOURS - though they occasionally came around with glasses of water, which was beneficial to ward of the DVTs, although there was precious little room to exercise! The plane did a bit of bump-bumping as we headed towards Denver, passing close by Kansas City, and the seatbelt sign went on for a while (naturally while I was queuing for the loo!). The loo stank of pee. It was a long flight. And, amazing though it all was, it wasn't the most comfortable of experiences. There was a kid in "World Traveller Plus" who had been screaming for practically 9 hours and I would've gladly allowed him/her to play on the wings ...

They fed up with muck about an hour and a half before touch-down. A disgusting roll, carrot cake and some little (disgusting) cracker things. It was safer to remain hungry. Then we started the descent ...

Well, wonderful, wonderful scenery - mountains and the Painted Desert (I think) - but - as Paul described it, it was like something out of a '70's disaster movie! Round and round, bang bang, bump bump, lurch, lurch. At least one person brought up their carrot cake - but we landed safely.

WE WERE IN AMERICA!!!

We disembarked (terribly excitedly) via one of those tunnel things and entered into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where our first task was to descend two long flights of escalators! My feet had swollen up, so I rescued a pair of sandals from one of the carry-on bags and changed them on the carpet. Yes, CARPET - they had carpets on the floor! Security was pretty quick, although a tiny, ratty dog went around sniffing at everything - and then we had the loooooooong wait for our bags, before the looooooooooong trek, through corridors and up lifts, to the outside world.

IT SURE WAS HOT!!

And then we had to hike to the shuttle bus-stop, about a mile up the road (or perhaps a little less than that). We boarded the shuttle-bus, which we shared with 2 American men and an American woman, who had just returned (on the same flight as us) from a vacation in Europe. How amazing to sit there and be driven around Phoenix! Cacti everywhere - everything so strange - a whole new world! There was discussion about the Camelback Inn - and it seemed that we were going to be staying in a good-oe place. And then ... we were there!

What a fabulous place! We checked in and then we were greeted by a fellah who transported us and our luggage to our room (number 427) on a golf truck. All was glorious. That the internet didn't work (nor could the little man who came willingly and speedily calling to fix it, get it to work), didn't seem to matter at all - the room was LOVELY!

We had 2 large beds and a bed settee. A HUGE TV (in a hutch) a 2-roomed bathroom and a small kitchen area with fridge, microwave and sink. The furnishings were south-western - and we had native Indian pots on top of the cupboards! We loved it! Even more special, there was a most wonderful patio, with our very own cacti and view over the Camelback Mountain. What more could we possibly ask for! (It was awfully hot!)

Paul was still not all that well, but hub went to a restaurant to buy a bottle of wine, and we watched our free movie ("The Day After Tomorrow") and managed to stay awake until about 10:00pm.

Camelback Mountain, from our balcony, dusk ("why is that palm tree so tall"??)

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[ Introduction ] [ Day 1 ] [ Day 3 ] [ Day 4 ] [ Day 5 ] [ Day 6 ] [ Day 7 ] [ Day 8 ] [ Day 9 ]
[ Day 10 ] [ Day 11 ] [ Day 12 ] [ Day 13 ] [ Day 14 ] [ Day 15 ] [ Day 16 ] [ Day 17 ]
[ Days 18, 19 and 20 ]

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